Editing Phonograph record (section)

===Early speeds===
[[File:Pathé Schallplatte.jpg|thumb|upright|Hungarian [[Pathé]] record, 90 to 100&nbsp;rpm]]
Early disc recordings were produced in a variety of speeds ranging from 60 to 130&nbsp;rpm, and a variety of sizes. As early as 1894, [[Emile Berliner]]'s [[United States Gramophone Company]] was selling single-sided 7-inch discs with an advertised standard speed of "about 70&nbsp;rpm".<ref>Ober, Norman (1973). "You Can Thank Emil Berliner for the Shape Your Record Collection Is In". ''Music Educators Journal'', Vol. 60, No. 4 (December 1973), pp. 38–40.</ref>

One standard audio recording handbook describes speed regulators, or [[governor (device)|governor]]s, as being part of a wave of improvement introduced rapidly after 1897. A picture of a hand-cranked 1898 Berliner Gramophone shows a governor and says that spring drives had replaced hand drives. It notes that:

<blockquote>The speed regulator was furnished with an indicator that showed the speed when the machine was running so that the records, on reproduction, could be revolved at exactly the same speed...The literature does not disclose why 78&nbsp;rpm was chosen for the phonograph industry, apparently this just happened to be the speed created by one of the early machines and, for no other reason continued to be used.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Recording and Reproduction of Sound|edition=revised and enlarged 2nd|first=Oliver |last = Read|publisher=Howard W. Sams|location=Indianapolis|year=1952|chapter = History of Acoustical Recording|pages= 12, 14, 15}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Schellackplatte 1908.jpg|thumb|upright|A multinational product: an operatic duet sung by [[Enrico Caruso]] and [[Antonio Scotti]], recorded in the US in 1906 by the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]], manufactured {{circa|1908}} in Hanover, Germany, for the [[Gramophone Company]], Victor's affiliate in England]]
In 1912, the Gramophone Company set 78&nbsp;rpm as their recording standard, based on the average of recordings they had been releasing at the time, and started selling players whose governors had a [[Real versus nominal value|nominal]] speed of 78&nbsp;rpm.<ref name=copeland /> By 1925, 78&nbsp;rpm was becoming standardized across the industry. However, the exact speed differed between places with [[alternating current]] electricity supply at 60 [[hertz]] (cycles per second, Hz) and those at 50&nbsp;Hz. Where the mains supply was 60&nbsp;Hz, the actual speed was 78.26&nbsp;rpm:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aes2.org/publications/par/num/ |title=Pro Audio Reference |at=78 rpm record |access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref> that of a 60&nbsp;Hz [[stroboscope]] illuminating 92-bar calibration markings. Where it was 50&nbsp;Hz, it was 77.92&nbsp;rpm: that of a 50&nbsp;Hz stroboscope illuminating 77-bar calibration markings.<ref name=copeland>{{cite book|last1=Copeland|first1=Peter|title=Manual of Analogue Audio Restoration Techniques|date=2008|publisher=British Library|location=London|pages=89–90|url=http://www.bl.uk/britishlibrary/~/media/subjects%20images/sound/analoguesoundrestoration.pdf|access-date=16 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222091532/http://www.bl.uk/britishlibrary/~/media/subjects%20images/sound/analoguesoundrestoration.pdf|archive-date=22 December 2015}}</ref>

[[File:EdisonDiscLabelBunk.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Edison Records Diamond Disc label, early 1920s. [[Edison Disc Record]]s always ran at 80&nbsp;rpm.]]
At least one attempt to lengthen playing time was made in the early 1920s. World Records produced records that played at a [[constant linear velocity]], controlled by [[Noel Pemberton Billing]]'s patented add-on speed governor.<ref>{{Cite book |title=World Records, Vocalion "W" Fetherflex and Penny Phono Recordings: A listing |author1=Frank Andrews |author2=Arthur Badrock |author3=Edward S. Walker |publisher=The Authors |location=Spalding, Lincolnshire |date=1992}}</ref>